Town considers changes in trash, recycling collection

Thursday

Jan 16, 2014 at 10:10 AM

MIDDLEBORO — Local residents may soon be placing their recyclables in a 95-gallon curbside cart rather than the small bins currently provided by the town. That change, which would be expected to help increase recycling substantially, is part of a larger plan that might ultimately result in a substantial change in the town's trash collection process.

JANE LOPES

MIDDLEBORO — Local residents may soon be placing their recyclables in a 95-gallon curbside cart rather than the small bins currently provided by the town. That change, which would be expected to help increase recycling substantially, is part of a larger plan that might ultimately result in a substantial change in the town's trash collection process.

Meeting with the selectmen Monday night, Janine Delaney, municipal recycling coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) explained that Middleboro has been awarded a total of $183,000 by DEP: $90,000 to purchase the recycling carts, $90,000 to purchase trash carts, and $3,000 for outreach work to educate the public about recycling and reducing the trash stream.

Town Manager Charles Cristello said the town will be working with Ms. Delaney on an overall plan for dealing with household trash and recycling that could include a mechanized system installed in the town's trash collection vehicles.

Ms. Delaney said DEP encourages communities to use a "pay as you throw" (PAYT) or "save money and reduce trash" (SMART) system that includes fees for disposal of individual trash bags or for a trash cart, a flat fee per household, trash collection supported by local property taxes or a combination of the three, although the state prefers a straightforward PAYT plan that assesses a fee per trash cart,

She said the PAYT results in a 25 to 50 percent reduction in trash.

Under the current trash collection plan, Middleboro residents have the option of paying a $52 quarterly fee or purchasing stickers at $1.25 for a 13-gallon trash bag or $2.50 for a 30-gallon bag. Ms. Delaney said the average household currently generates about .94 tons of trash per year.

"DEP supports pay as you throw because it is the single most effective way (to reduce the trash stream)," Ms. Delaney said. "Towns that use it have demonstrated excellent results."

A total of 141 communities currently use the system and statistics show the amount of trash per household has generally been reduced by a significant amount. This means more families are recycling, she said, and it also saves money for the municipalities, and ultimately for residents, since the towns pay to dispose of household trash.

In Middleboro's case, disposal fees of $25 per ton at the SEMASS waste-to-energy plant in Rochester will actually decrease when that contract ends in 2016 and the town begins hauling trash to the municipal landfill on Brook Street that is being operated by Waste Management. But a report from DEP on the services to be provided to the town by Ms. Delaney noted that in Middleboro's case, a reduction in the 5,724 tons of trash the town currently collects at curbside would extend the life of the landfill.

Ms. Delaney said DEP recommends that communities distribute 35-gallon trash carts to residents and that households be limited to one cart per week.

Selectman John Knowlton expressed concern about penalizing large families by limiting them to a cart that size or charging an additional fee for a second cart.

"I have a family of four with two teenagers, and we haven't used just one barrel in quite a while," he said. "I don't want to see an extra burden on families with children,"

The town manager said no decision has been made yet on the size of trash carts. He said if the town goes forward with that part of the DEP plan, it could opt for 64-gallon carts, which are also available,

"We are just starting an analysis on what works best for Middleboro," Mr. Cristello said.

He said he will be making recommendations to the selectmen over the next several months.

"We do believe recycling carts are the way to go," he said.

There is no fee for curbside collection of recyclables.

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